January, 20-27, 2024

Fastiv, 20.01-27.01.2024

Praised be Jesus Christ!

I want to start this week’s report with something very positive. Such a good experience for our volunteers, parishioners and Friends was the icon painting course conducted by sister Daniela OP. I think that in this difficult time, when people are experiencing various traumas, icon writing, which combines prayer practice and spiritual experience, heals the wounds of war. Therefore, the participants of the course devoted a lot of effort and about 40 hours to writing the “Face of God” icon. Today, at the end of the course, the consecration of the icon took place, it was so touching to see the joy in the eyes of the participants and the “quiet peace”. A big thank you to sister Daniela, we hope to continue…

This week, we also visited Kherson with a humanitarian mission, where we formed food kits for three districts of the city: Tavriyskyi, Shumyanskyi and Korabelnyi. This is about three thousand food kits for those who need support the most in this suffering city. We also equipped six shelters in the city and a shelter in the village of Komishany. This year, the Military City Administration is planning 40 more shelters. It is very important to create safe spaces to save as many lives as possible, so we want to help equip them to give more hope. This time, we brought folding beds and blankets to the shelters, and we plan to bring fire extinguishers in the near future. Thank you, the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland and the Strategic Reserve Agency of Poland for your solidarity and support.

We also help our Defenders, which is extremely important now. Six of our latest generators were delivered this week. We will be grateful if you support us with generators or chemical warmers for hands and feet. We gave all we had, our stocks are over.

We continue the collection for 150 tourniquets. Thanks to you, 39,820 hryvnias have already been collected. Also, St. Dolindo Foundation donated us 50 tourniquets, which are already saving lives at the front. We are halfway – 41,180 hryvnias and the collection will be closed. Tourniquets are life, thank you for every hryvnia, support and repost.

We would like to thank you for the partnership and support, MHP. This week, you gave us humanitarian aid, chicken from your own production, 1000 kg of delicious flesh, intended for our wards of IDPs, children of the Saint Martin Center and the social kitchen in Kherson. Everyone who tried it last time said it tasted like home. Thanks to the director of PrJSC Myronivska Poultry Factory for your sensitivity and generosity. May our joint efforts to overcome the consequences of the humanitarian crisis caused by the enemy bring our Victory closer. We thank you for everything and remember you in prayer.

We thank Mr. Krzysztof from Węgierska Górka, Republic of Poland, for various smoothies and 200 kg of sweets for our children. Thank you for remembering and caring about us. We thank the Dominican Sisters Missionaries of Jesus and Mary for their support of humanitarian missions, Dominikanki Misjonarki Jezusa i Maryi, thank you to the lay community from Zwolle for the memory and sacrificial help, Frans van der Heijdt. Thank you Nova Poshta Humanitarian for your tireless desire to speed up the delivery of goods to forcibly displaced Ukrainians, whom we can help more thanks to the delivery you pay for.

This week, we provided the most needy persons with 3,523 basic food kits (32,650 kg of humanitarian aid).

We thank everyone who prays for us, supports us with words and donations, who serves with us, volunteers in Fastiv or Kherson. Thank you, volunteers from Poland, Ms. Marzena, Stanisław, Mr. Ireneusz, Krzysztof, Mr. Pavlo, who left their jobs to help Ukraine in the most difficult time. We invite you to cooperate.

With prayer

Fr. Mykhailo Romaniv OP